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August Lambert
|death_date= |birth_place=Kleestadt |death_place= Kamenz |placeofburrial= |image=August_Lambert.jpg |caption=August Lambert |allegiance= Nazi Germany |serviceyears=1937 - 1945 |rank=Oberleutnant |branch= Luftwaffe |commands= |unit=SchlG 1, SG 2, SG 77 |battles=World War II |awards=Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross }}August Lambert (18 February 1916 – 17 April 1945) was a former dive-bomber and ground attack pilot who became a Luftwaffe fighter ace and recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross ( ) during World War II. The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross was awarded to recognise extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership. Career August Lambert was born on 18 February 1916 in Kleestadt in the Grand Duchy of Hesse. Lambert joined the Luftwaffe in 1937 and as a qualified pilot since 1938 spent the five years as a flight instructor in various training units. In 1943 Oberfeldwebel Lambert joined II./Schlachtgeschwader 1 (II/.Sch.G.1). Lambert flew his first combat mission on 23 April 1943 claiming aa air victory which was not confirmed. Lambert flew almost 200 ground support missions in which he and the fellow pilots of II./SG.2 accounted for the destruction of hundreds of ground support vehicles and artillery batteries. II/.Sch.G.1 was renamed Schlachtgeschwader 2 (SG. 2), "Immelmann" on 18 October 1943. II./Schlachtgeschwader 2 was heavily involved in the Crimean campaign during early-mid 1944, and in addition to its usual ground-attack work flew interception sorties, claiming some 247 Soviet aircraft shot down. On 10 April 1944 he claimed 4 victories (1 Yak-9, 1 P-39 Airacobra and 2 Il-2 Sturmoviks), on 17 April 1944 12 victories (including 5 Il-2 Sturmovik) and on 17 May 1944 some 14 Victories. Leutnant Lambert claimed some 70 kills during one three-week period.Weal 1998, p. 44. Lambert received the Ritterkreuz on 14 May 1944. By May 1944, the depleted II./SG 2 retired to bases in Romania. Following the Battle of Sevastopol Lambert was assigned in June 1944 as an instructor but in March 1945 returned to operational assignments as an Oberleutnant with SG.151 and then as Staffelkapitän of 8./SG.77. On the morning of 17 April 1945 Leutnant Gerhard Bauer, Oberleutnant August Lambert, and another pilot were taking off from Kamenz for a mission to the front when American P-51Ds of the 55th Fighter Group appeared. Bauer's Fw 190 F-9 "Black 1 +" was quickly shot down north of Kuckau, about eight kilometres east-south-east of Kamenz. August Lambert and another 8./Schlachtgeschwader 77 pilot tried desperately to get away, but could not lose their pursuers. Lambert was shot down and killed in action in his Fw 190 F-8 "Black 9 +" just north of Hoyerswerda, a town some 20 km north-north-east of Kamenz. Lambert was officially credited with shooting down 116 enemy aircraft, all claimed on the Eastern front. He also claimed over 100 vehicles destroyed in ground attacks. After his death, Lambert had been nominated for the Oak Leaves to his Knight's Cross, but this request was not approved.MacLean 2007, p. 201. Awards * Ehrenpokal der Luftwaffe (17 January 1944)Obermaier 1989, p. 153. * German Cross in Gold 1 October 1944 as Leutnant in the 5./SG 2Patzwall and Scherzer 2001, p. 266. * Iron Cross (1939) 2nd and 1st class * Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 14 May 1944 as Leutnant and pilot in the 5./SG 2 "Immelmann"Fellgiebel 2000, p. 282. * Mentioned three times in the Wehrmachtbericht References in the Wehrmachtbericht References ;Citations ;Bibliography * Fellgiebel, Walther-Peer (2000). Die Träger des Ritterkreuzes des Eisernen Kreuzes 1939–1945. Podzun-Pallas. ISBN 3-7909-0284-5. * * * * * * Weal, John (1998). Focke-Wulf Fw 190 Aces of the Russian Front. Osprey Publishing. ISBN 1-85532-518-7. * Weal, John (2003). Luftwaffe Schlachtgruppen. Osprey Publishing. ISBN 1-84176-608-9. * Category:1916 births Category:1945 deaths Category:People from Groß-Umstadt Category:German World War II flying aces Category:Luftwaffe pilots Category:People from the Grand Duchy of Hesse Category:German military personnel killed in World War II Category:Recipients of the Gold German Cross Category:Recipients of the Knight's Cross Category:Military personnel referenced in the Wehrmachtbericht